All the researchers in the fields of Iranian and Islamic studies are here by invited to send their works, including books, researches, doctoral dissertations and M.A. thesis, written and conducted from March 2018 to March 2021 to the secretariat of the award. For more information please visit the awards website.

www.farabiaward.ir

The Ministry of Agriculture announced plans to expand the area of lands under the cultivation of medicinal plants by 40,500 hectares during the current [Iranian calendar] year (began on March 21), IRIB reported on Sunday.

Hossein Zeinali, the manager of the Ministry of Agriculture’s cultivation project, said that plants such as saffron, Damask rose, cumin, caraway, licorice, shallot, mallow, henna, thyme, fennel flower, coriander, and hops are the main medicinal plants in the project.

These plants meet the domestic needs, then it is planned to improve the quality and productivity of these herbs, which will result in increasing the added value of products, he explained.

According to the statistics, about 70 percent of people around the world consume medicinal plants and herbal medicines.

The global industry has a large market in the world, and forecasts indicate that by 2050, the export value of this industry will reach $5 trillion.

In Iran, the area under cultivation of medicinal plants has reached more than 250,000 hectares, according to the latest statistics released by the Vice President for Science and Technology.

Other measures in this area include increasing the number of knowledge-based and creative companies to 700, increasing health centers to 60, and producing more than 5,000 herbal products.

Persian traditional medicine

Iranian traditional medicine is one of the most ancient forms of traditional medicine. It is grounded in the concept of four senses of humor: phlegm (Balgham), blood (Dam), yellow bile (Safra’), and black bile (Sauda’). The concept of four senses of humor is based on the teachings of Rhazes and Avicenna in an elaborate medical system.

Iranian traditional medicine strongly focuses on prioritizing health maintenance and disease prevention over treatment.

So far, about 30,000 plant species are identified in the world, with Iran’s share of about 8,000 species its plant diversity is more than the whole of Europe.

Currently, about 2,300 species of medicinal plants have been identified in the country, accounting for one-third of the medicines used in human societies, the share of world trade in these products is about $124 billion and Iran’s share is $570 million, which is only 0.5 percent of the total.

The per capita consumption of medicinal plants in Iran is about one kilogram of dried plants, in other words, 83,000 tons of medicinal plants worth 1.2 trillion rials (around $29 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) are consumed in the country, while in Europe this amount is 900 grams and in the United States is 2.5 kilograms. /T.T/

People from all walks of life come together at Shah Abdol Azim shrine, southern Tehran, during the month of Ramadan to read verses of the Holy Quran.

In different parts of Iran, people, tribes, and ethnic groups celebrate the holy month of Ramadan with various rituals which have been passed down from generation to generation. /T.T/

Produced by Soureh Film Club, the two Iranian titles “Loneliness” and “Kite” are scheduled to compete at the Russian Kino Festival.

Directed and written by Ehsan Mahboubi, ‘Loneliness’ is about an old woman who clings to a telephone to get out of solitude.

Written by Mohsen Maleki and directed by Mohammad Nabi Talebi, ‘Kite’ is a narrative of a street fight that leads to social solidarity.

Kino Festival will take place on May 17-21, 2022, in Russia’s Rybinsk.

The Festival will be held with the purpose of promoting the spiritual, moral, Patriotic and aesthetic education of the modern youth. /MNA/

Twenty-five percent of the foreign students studying in Iranian universities are Afghan nationals, Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs, said on Wednesday.

Afghan students attend Iranian universities in three ways; some enter the university by participating in the national entrance exam of Iran, and some others receive admission from universities that have non-Iranian student licenses. The third group also attended the country’s universities through scholarships, he explained.

Many of the Afghan students are studying master’s and Ph.D. courses in Iranian universities, he added, IRNA reported.

Currently, foreign nationals constitute 1.64 percent of the country’s student population, which is about 0.14 percent higher than the goal set by the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021).

According to the plan, some 1.5 percent of the population of university students in the country should be non-Iranian, however, the figure stood at 1.64 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (March 2020-March 2021), Afshin Akhoundzadeh, an official at the Organization for Student Affairs, said, IRNA reported in May 2021.

Also, according to the 20-Year National Vision Document (ending 2025), foreign students should account for 1.8 percent of the whole student population, which is likely to even reach 2 percent, Akhoundzadeh explained.

“Some 57,675 foreign nationals from 133 countries are studying in Iranian universities, 30,600 of whom are studying in universities affiliated with the Ministry of Science, while 25,000 others are receiving education in Azad University, and about 2,000 in medical universities.”

Fifty-seven percent of the international students are studying for a master’s degree, 27 percent for a bachelor’s degree and 15 percent are educating to receive a Ph.D., while the remaining one percent study at other levels.

Law, Persian literature and computer engineering are the top three fields of study for foreign students in Iran, while civil engineering, business management, political science, English language and literature, Quran and hadith sciences, international relations, electrical engineering, and other majors with the highest number of non-Iranian students.

In 2013, 35 centers were allowed to admit foreign students, which has increased to 77 in 2021. /T.T/

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said the country is currently exporting domestically-made vaccines for coronavirus to ten African countries.

“We started exporting coronavirus vaccines one or two weeks ago,” he said, adding, “For the time being, Iranian-made vaccines are being exported to ten African countries,” IRNA reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the head of the Food and Drug Organization has said some four million doses of domestically-made vaccines have been so far exported.

“Despite limitations of the World Health Organization, Iranian products are waiting to be confirmed by the organization,” Bahram Daraei wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has pledged to expedite the process of evaluating and registering Iranian vaccines to receive an emergency use license, appreciating Iran’s efforts to develop vaccines against the global pandemic.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary’s deputy chief for international affairs and secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Headquarters, on the sidelines of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Iran’s high progress in the health system and the expansion of health network coverage throughout the country has increased the rate of vaccination.
The high rate of vaccination in Iran, as well as the inoculation of foreign refugees, are among other good public control measures that have stabilized the country’s health condition,” he stated, IRNA reported.

Referring to the impact of U.S. sanctions on drugs and medical equipment, he said that humanitarian items should be exempted from economic sanctions so that we will take the necessary steps in this regard.

He also promised to speed up the process of registering domestically produced vaccines in Iran.

WHO representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain said in September 2021 that the Organization was collecting the necessary information for the registration and certification of Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.

On January 28, the process for global registration of the Iranian-made “COVIRAN Barkat” vaccine started by holding a virtual meeting with the World Health Organization officials.

COVIRAN is the first vaccine in West Asia that is in the process of global registration, IRIB reported.

According to a new study, the effectiveness of the COVIRAN vaccine in fighting the coronavirus has been more than foreign rivals, namely Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik. / T.T/

Iran marked its National Nuclear Technology Day on Saturday by unveiling nine achievements that were hailed as ushering in a nuclear renaissance in Iran.

The unveiling took place during a ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Raisi and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami as well as a number of other officials.

The achievements included three radiopharmaceuticals, two achievements in the fields of cold plasma technology (CPT) and plasma therapy for cancer patients, and another four in the areas of industry, lasers, control systems, and radiography.

During the ceremony, President Raisi was briefed by Eslami and Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari on the achievements.

Featured high among the achievements was a set of radio medicine, including Lutetium-177, that is used to treat a number of difficult-to-treat diseases like cancer. With a half-life of 7 days, Iranian-made LU-177 will have a stronger effect compared to LU-77 and is the indigenized version of the medicine. LU-177 works to destroy cancerous tumors by connecting to the receptors of the tumor and spreading rays in the affected area, according to Fars News.

Eslami said the AEOI made 77 new achievements during the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20.

In addition to the achievements unveiled on Saturday, President Raisi unveiled “the Comprehensive Strategic Document for Nuclear Development,” which is to serve as the blueprint for Iran’s nuclear development in the coming years.

Earlier, Eslami, who is responsible for preparing the document, said it thoroughly addressed the status of the AEOI and the nuclear policy of the country.

“We tried to prepare a comprehensive document for the development of the organization by forming working groups consisting of all relevant and motivated people,” Eslami said of the document, according to Fars News.

The AEOI chief added, “This document has passed the legal approval process and fortunately, in the first working days of 1401 [the Iranian new calendar year], we have a comprehensive document for this organization.”

According to Eslami, the document includes all aspects of nuclear technology, the industrialization of Iran in various sectors, the Leader’s recommendations, and the spheres that have not been addressed yet.

Eslami pointed out that, according to the document, qualitative and quantitative targets have been set for the processes of the nuclear fuel cycle. As regards nuclear power, the document sets the stage for the construction of power plants with a production capacity of up to 10,000 MW.

The unveiling ceremony was held at the Summit Hall in Tehran which also featured an exhibition on Iran’s nuclear achievements. During his visit to the exhibition, Ayatollah Raisi expressed pride over the progress of Iranian young scientists in the field of nuclear technology and described these developments as a symbol of self-confidence and reliance on internal power, and called for this spirit to spread to other industries and strategic areas in the country, according to the official website of the Iranian presidency.

While emphasizing the right to use peaceful nuclear energy, the president called Iran’s nuclear knowledge and technology in the nuclear field irreversible and said, “Relying on Iranian young people and scientists and jihadist work is a model that always works and should be used in other areas as well.”

Underlining that Iran would continue research in peaceful nuclear fields regardless of the will or opinion of outsiders, President Raisi said, “Fortunately, the research work of scientists in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is accelerating well and the government will support this process.”

Iran’s newest nuclear achievements are being hailed as a “nuclear renaissance.” Nour News, a news website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the achievements put Iran on the cusp of a “nuclear renaissance.”

“Over the last years, our country’s nuclear industry, despite the enemies’ obstructions, has made upward progress by virtue of the youth and scientists. And that, today, Islamic Iran is on the cusp of a nuclear renaissance,” the website said.

Nuclear achievements come at a time when Iran is under growing pressure from the West over its nuclear program. Iran insists it needs its program for peaceful purposes while the West has leveled accusations against Iran in the nuclear realm.

Iran and the West, along with other world powers, have been negotiating in Vienna since last April in a bid to find a common ground to settle differences. /T.T/

Iranian short film ‘Exchange’ directed by Barzan Rostami will be screened at the Riverside International Film Festival in the Us.

‘Exchange’ is about people’s irresponsibility in critical situations that compel them to do anything unusual to save their lives.

The Riverside International Film Festival is a non-profit organization. Bringing the best in contemporary international and independent films to the Inland Empire region of Southern California

Annually since 2002, RIFF has brought the best in contemporary international and independent film to the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the fastest growing area in America. The festival will be held on April 21-25. /MNA/